César Franck
César Franck is an important composer from the latter half of the nineteenth century, particularly in the realms of symphonic, chamber, organ and piano music. His stage works were uniformly unsuccessful, though his choral compositions fared somewhat better. Born in Liège (in the French region which in 1830 became part of a new state, Belgium), on December 10, 1822, he led a group of young composers, among them d'Indy, Duparc, and Dukas, who found much to admire in his highly individual post-Romantic style, with its rich, innovative harmonies, sometimes terse melodies, and skilled contrapuntal writing. This group, sometimes known as "la bande à Franck," steered French composition toward symphonic and chamber music, finally breaking the stranglehold of the more conservative opera over French music. Franck was a keyboard player of extraordinary ability who had a short stint as a touring piano virtuoso before moving to Paris and throwing himself into musical studies. In addition, he was an organist at several major churches during his career, and his skills on the organ accounted in great part for his compositional interest in that instrument; his organ compositions stand at the apex of the Romantic organ repertoire. Franck was a man of strong religious convictions throughout his life, which often motivated him to compose works based on biblical texts or on other church sources. For much of his life he was organist at the Paris churches of St.-Jean-St. François and then Ste.-Clothilde, and in 1872 he became a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. Individual and instantly recognizable though his music was, it owes a debt to Liszt and Wagner, especially to the latter's Tristan und Isolde and several other late works. He tended to use rather quick modulations, another inheritance from Wagner, and shifting harmonies. There is a Germanic ponderousness in some of his compositions; consider, for example, the opening of the Symphony in D minor of 1888, probably Franck's most famous composition. In this work, one hears a mixture of paradoxical elements so typical of the composer: for example, moments of peace and serenity barely conceal an undercurrent of disquiet. In this symphony, Franck, adapts the Lisztian-Wagnerian predilection toward cyclical structure and melodic motto to an abstract symphonic form. Another characteristic of Franck's music is extended homophonic writing, as exemplified in his choral symphonic poem Psyché. Franck died in Paris on November 8, 1890. By the turn of the century he had become the leading figure associated with the "Old School" in France, while Debussy came to represent the "progressive" forces.© TiVo Read more
César Franck is an important composer from the latter half of the nineteenth century, particularly in the realms of symphonic, chamber, organ and piano music. His stage works were uniformly unsuccessful, though his choral compositions fared somewhat better. Born in Liège (in the French region which in 1830 became part of a new state, Belgium), on December 10, 1822, he led a group of young composers, among them d'Indy, Duparc, and Dukas, who found much to admire in his highly individual post-Romantic style, with its rich, innovative harmonies, sometimes terse melodies, and skilled contrapuntal writing. This group, sometimes known as "la bande à Franck," steered French composition toward symphonic and chamber music, finally breaking the stranglehold of the more conservative opera over French music.
Franck was a keyboard player of extraordinary ability who had a short stint as a touring piano virtuoso before moving to Paris and throwing himself into musical studies. In addition, he was an organist at several major churches during his career, and his skills on the organ accounted in great part for his compositional interest in that instrument; his organ compositions stand at the apex of the Romantic organ repertoire. Franck was a man of strong religious convictions throughout his life, which often motivated him to compose works based on biblical texts or on other church sources. For much of his life he was organist at the Paris churches of St.-Jean-St. François and then Ste.-Clothilde, and in 1872 he became a professor at the Paris Conservatoire.
Individual and instantly recognizable though his music was, it owes a debt to Liszt and Wagner, especially to the latter's Tristan und Isolde and several other late works. He tended to use rather quick modulations, another inheritance from Wagner, and shifting harmonies. There is a Germanic ponderousness in some of his compositions; consider, for example, the opening of the Symphony in D minor of 1888, probably Franck's most famous composition. In this work, one hears a mixture of paradoxical elements so typical of the composer: for example, moments of peace and serenity barely conceal an undercurrent of disquiet. In this symphony, Franck, adapts the Lisztian-Wagnerian predilection toward cyclical structure and melodic motto to an abstract symphonic form. Another characteristic of Franck's music is extended homophonic writing, as exemplified in his choral symphonic poem Psyché.
Franck died in Paris on November 8, 1890. By the turn of the century he had become the leading figure associated with the "Old School" in France, while Debussy came to represent the "progressive" forces.
© TiVo
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César Franck - Complete Chamber Music
César Franck
Classical - Released by Cypres on Sep 22, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Works by Franck, Kurtág, Previn, Schumann
César Franck
Chamber Music - Released by Avie Records on Nov 11, 2016
5 de DiapasonViolinist Augustin Hadelich and pianist Joyce Yang make an international pair: he is an Italian of German background, trained largely in the U.S., and ...
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MacDowell: Piano Concerto No. 2 In D Minor - Saint Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 In G Minor - Franck: Symphonic Variations
César Franck
Classical - Released by Reader's Digest on Oct 1, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
David Nadien Plays Franck, Debussy, Fauré, Rachmaninoff-Heifetz, and Prokofiev
César Franck
Chamber Music - Released by Cembal d'amour CD 151 on Jul 1, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franck, Lemmens, Boëllmann & Saint-Saëns: Organ Music
César Franck
Classical - Released by Bomba-Piter on May 14, 2015
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In Flanders' Fields Vol. 70: Joseph Jongen / César Franck
César Franck
Classical - Released by Phaedra on Sep 12, 2011
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Franck and Strauss: Violin Sonatas
César Franck
Chamber Music - Released by Onyx Classics on May 4, 2015
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Franck, Bloch and Krein: Music for Violin and Piano
César Franck
Chamber Music - Released by MSR Classics on Oct 13, 2015
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Franck: Symphony in D Minor / Psyché
César Franck
Classical - Released by Avie Records on Jan 1, 2002
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Franck & Ysaÿe: Poème, Works for Violin & Piano
César Franck
Classical - Released by Challenge Classics on Nov 21, 2013
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French Piano Music
César Franck
Classical - Released by Soundset on Feb 1, 1995
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Ulrik Spang-Hanssen - César Franck: Les Grand Œuvres Pour Orgue
César Franck
Classical - Released by CDKlassisk on Apr 30, 2013
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César Franck: Piano Quintet in F Minor - Symphony in D Minor (Live)
César Franck
Classical - Released by RHI on Apr 15, 2015
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Franck - Faure - Debussy
César Franck
Classical - Released by Globe on Jan 7, 1980
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Franck - Bach - Busoni - Brahms - Liszt: Variations des cimes
César Franck
Classical - Released by VDE-GALLO on May 8, 2014
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César Franck - Eugène Gigout - Louis Vierne
César Franck
Classical - Released by Paula on Feb 28, 2016
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Franck & Lekeu: Sonates - Mathieu: Ballade, Fantaisie
César Franck
Chamber Music - Released by Analekta on Mar 10, 2009
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César Franck: Sonata para Violín y Piano en La Mayor - Edvard Grieg: Sonata para Violín y Piano en Sol Mayor Op. 13
César Franck
Chamber Music - Released by Irco Video on Jul 4, 1997
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Dupre and Franck: Organ Symphonies Spectacular and Sublime, Mustric Plays, Vol. 4
César Franck
Classical - Released by MSR Classics on Apr 10, 2012
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Romantic Violin Sonatas: Live Selection, Vol. 1 (Live)
César Franck
Chamber Music - Released by Cantabel Productions on Nov 15, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Volodja Balzalorsky Live in Concert Vol. 2: Sonatas for Violin and Piano by Franck & Szymanowski (Live in Belgrade) (Live)
César Franck
Chamber Music - Released by Cantabel Productions on Dec 20, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo